Reblogged from Nan Quick: The Chelsea Flower Show of 2014: Contemplating the Biggest Pop-Up Gardens in the World.

This is a lovely [and long!] post from Nan Quick with fabulous pictures on the Chelsea Flower show. I arrived in London on the last day of the show but didn’t get there – so this feels like I did after all! Thank you Nan for such an in-depth view!

The Daily Telegraph Garden, at the 2014Chelsea Flower Show. This is just a portion of the elegant space designed by Tommaso del Buono and Paul Gazerwitz. Tommaso grew up in Florence, and Paul in New York, and together they have an international practice, based in Shoreditch, East London. Here, a giant panel of Nocino Travertine Limestone punctuates a tall, green hedge. Low topiaries, pruned into pincushion shapes, flank a bench that floats in front of the limestone.

Late July 2014.

September of 2008: As I was displaying my garden furniture in a rather grotty convention hall in Birmingham, England, I was invited by a representative of the Royal Horticultural Society to exhibit my designs at their next Chelsea Flower Show. And so, in May of 2009, I found myself and my creations arranged in an elegant tent, on the grounds that surround Christopher Wren’s Royal Hospital, in London. I’d…

2 Responses

Dear Deb- Thanks so much for sharing my Chelsea-Opus with our fellow
Austen lovers. Indeed, this article is VERY long….but my aim was to make my Readers feel they’d experienced the Flower Show in ALL of its aspects:the good & the bad…the invigorating & the exhausting.
Many more England-articles are in the works. I’m especially looking forward to completing my piece about Lyme Regis, which will feature a long photo-tour of the locations that Austen used in PERSUASION.
After Lyme Regis, I’ll publish a short photo-album of the ancient Kentish village of Horsmonden, where thorough documentation about the existence of Jane’s Austen ancestors seems to have begun: with John Austen IV, who was born in 1657. The Austens of Horsmonden were a wealthy family who made their money in the cloth trade. They consolidated this trade with the purchase of land and property, and a large number of houses in the village appear to have been built or owned by members of the family. While visiting churchyard of St.Margaret’s Church in Horsmonden in early June, I discovered the Austen family tomb (which was the largest,
and most resplendent of all of the monuments).
Best- Nan

Hi Nan, how funny you mention Horsmonden as a future post – I put on the blog yesterday photos that Ron Dunning took from a hot-air balloon over Horsmonden – he had written about the John Austen history before. I hadn’t read your comment until this morning! – serendipity! – look very much forward to your post about Lyme Regis as well. I regret being there in London and not getting there to the flower show – I also missed the Olympia book fair that day – I must learn not to arrive on a Saturday but get there the day before at least!

Thanks again for your post Nan – I didn’t mean that LONG was a bad thing! – lovely photographs!
Deb

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The Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) is dedicated to the enjoyment & appreciation of Jane Austen & her writing. Deb Barnum, Regional Coordinator for the JASNA-Vermont Region, authors this site, with occasional contributions from JASNA-Vermont members. [See JASNA page for more information.]